One STEAM to rule them all - Steam Machine and Frame thread

[MattyP]

It's gotta be under 1k - even go with 999 dollars and a controller and half-life 3 type deal.....Some new bundled custom software might sweeten the deal too

It'll sell out in minutes whatever they price it at.

And whilst I'm not quite the stupid impulse buyer i was, I'll be trying to get one.

(But only because I can put it through the business)

I will try to resist but I know you’ll get one and then I’ll get FOMO overdose when you rave on how great it is!

[Deckard]

Just get an Odin 3 as it runs steam and pc games and is fucking amazing at emulation right up to ps3 and switch -



and 340 dollars (direct) or 450 quid in UK (ouch, but still not a 1000 quid ouch !)

[KlaxonCow]

The embargo has dropped.



And, unfortunately, our fears have not been quenched.

The minimum spec is shipping at $1K and $1.3K for the higher spec (+ $69 for a Steam Controller on top). Even Valve admit their disappointed in this, but it's all the current RAM-pocalypse will allow.

(And they can't subsidise it through Steam sales, as it's an open PC, so there's no guarantee anyone will use SteamOS and buy games. I understand that, because if they did subsidise it down to, say, $600 then whole IT departments might buy them up as it's a cool mini-PC as well, purchase no games and they're fucked.)

And it still feels underpowered. Because though it might be better than 70% of Steam gamer hardware and comparable-ish to a PS5 - the PS5 is a 6 year old machine and this is brand new. It's not the worst, but it's far from the best - and this is like a console in being a fixed configuration (RAM and SSD are user-upgradeable, though), so you can't easily stick in a new GPU as time goes by.

[Misfit]

Register interest now, list closes on 25th June 6pm and then randomised.

https://store.steampowered.com/sale/steammachine

£879 - 512GB
£938 - 512GB + controller
£1149 - 2TB
£1208 - 2TB + controller

2TB model also appears to come with extra face plates - red fabric and solid walnut.

[Whiteball]

Register interest now, list closes on 25th June 6pm and then randomised.

https://store.steampowered.com/sale/steammachine

£879 - 512GB
£938 - 512GB + controller
£1149 - 2TB
£1208 - 2TB + controller

2TB model also appears to come with extra face plates - red fabric and solid walnut.

Not bad considering the current situation with prices but a bit too much for me to justify as a secondary machine for noodling about with.

The Frame headset is the one that really interests me though and I am hoping the price isn't too steep when it gets announced. Really need to upgrade and that is what I have my focus on at present.

[Misfit]

Anyone put their name in the list?

I must admit that I’m not sure where I’d be if I wasn’t buying a ‘Work’ PC…

Put myself down for both SKUs with a controller, because you definitely need a controller at work.

With the predictions on storage prices and my apathy to upgrading/reinstalling the 2TB is slightly appealing.

But I’ll see what happens in the ballot and then decide.

[KlaxonCow]

I've seen some interesting things floating around that seem to suggest that, as the memes would have it, even when Valve loses, they still win.

Namely, that they voiced to Linus Tech Tips that they themselves were disappointed with the pricing - but there was literally nothing they could do about it, while the AI RAM-pocalypse rages, and they struggled to even get enough parts, let alone get them cheaply.

And now rumours / suggestions / voices from Valve suggesting that they're working hard on that SteamOS general release - expanding the native hardware support to nVidia and Intel - because they kind of know that the Steam Machine pricing is overblown. As they didn't want it to be this expensive but that's all current market conditions allow for (and though it feels ridiculous to say so, it is cheap relative to how insane pricing has gone and Valve is not wildly profiteering here), but they're re-focusing on the core mission, which is to create a good gaming platform alternative to Windows.

https://www.tomshardware.com/video-game ... the-future

Valve working on SteamOS for general release — company collaborating with Nvidia to ensure compatibility, hints at dual-boot capabilities in the future

Adding Nvidia and dual-boot support will certainly make SteamOS a much more appealing solution for gamers who don’t want multiple hardware or only have a single device for both work and play.[...]
While the coming availability of the Steam Machine is stealing headlines about Valve, the company quietly announced that it’s also working on SteamOS to give it wider compatibility. Pierre-Loup Griffais, one of the engineers Tom’s Hardware talked with to dig into the details of the upcoming console, told The Verge that the company is collaborating with Nvidia “very closely” to develop support for Team Green GPUs. Additionally, he mentioned the possibility of dual-booting SteamOS with Windows or other operating systems in the future. The measures would allow users to build their own DIY Steam Machines in future.

After all, this has always been the core mission from the beginning. The original Steam Machines were provided by third parties, and "SteamOS" was always meant to be an ecosystem, not a singular product.

They've already worked with Lenovo to bring SteamOS to the Legion Go S, and have put out an open invitation that they'll work with anyone who wants to port SteamOS to their hardware.

The Steam Deck and Steam Machine were always supposed to be "the reference model". Learning from the earlier flop of the original Steam Machines, Valve came forward with their own hardware to make sure it was done right and priced well.

They've not locked down the ecosystem - on the contrary, they encourage it to expand.

The Steam Machine is not where it should be - Valve acknowledge this and are "disappointed" themselves. But the core mission remains the same as always - to create a valid gaming ecosystem that's not dependent on third parties, like Windows.

And so, with the Steam Machine itself suffering from the price hikes of the AI RAM-pocalypse, Valve are continuing to work on SteamOS, alongside nVidia, to improve its GPU compatibility.

I said this before, but, in the long term, it's not about the Steam Deck or the Steam Machine or possibly even the Steam Frame. But it's going to be the open ecosystem they create.

The real hidden product here is SteamOS 3.x - that's the magic sauce of the Steam Deck, it's what Steam Machine and Steam Frame will run, building up that ecosystem, and undoubtedly work will go into making all these run beautifully together. Then we see Lenovo offering their own SteamOS handheld, in time we might have, say, an Alienware Steam Machine. And it gradually builds out to be not a single set of products, but a whole gaming-centric "SteamOS" ecosystem.

TL;DR - Valve know the pricing is bad and are "disappointed" the market conditions didn't allow them to do better. But, hey, let's get SteamOS broadly compatible with more hardware and you could install SteamOS on your own home-brew Steam Machine instead. Valve ain't blocking that at all, but are actively encouraging it, if the Steam Machine itself is out of your price range.

[Little stoned kiwi]

SteamOS isn't very special. As a Linux distribution it has a poor user experience for installation and compatibility, there are already specialised distributions such as Bazzite that do a much better job.
I expect they'd prefer people do that as it's unlikely they want to maintain or provide user support to a distribution for hardware outside of their own and third-party manufacturers.

[venusian]

I imagine that's why they're look to work with system manufacturers and integrations rather than end-users or FOSS distros. That is, Valve help Acme put it on the GameBlaster-3000, and then it's Acme's task to keep it updated and working. Acme's customer never see the installer and never have to worry about compatibility. It's not the same model as Linux in general.

[Misfit]

SteamOS isn't very special. As a Linux distribution it has a poor user experience for installation and compatibility, there are already specialised distributions such as Bazzite that do a much better job.
I expect they'd prefer people do that as it's unlikely they want to maintain or provide user support to a distribution for hardware outside of their own and third-party manufacturers.

Nope. They've just released the first official version with AMD support and say they are looking to increase the supported hardware.

Bazzite is great, but not mainstream, the PC builders will never adopt that, but I'm pretty sure they'll make Steam boxes moving forward.

Edit..

And had I read the next post, pretty much what he said...

I imagine that's why they're look to work with system manufacturers and integrations rather than end-users or FOSS distros. That is, Valve help Acme put it on the GameBlaster-3000, and then it's Acme's task to keep it updated and working. Acme's customer never see the installer and never have to worry about compatibility. It's not the same model as Linux in general.

[Little stoned kiwi]

I never said manufacturers would use Bazzite. They would use SteamOS.

Home users providing their own hardware should use the likes of Bazzite as I doubt Valve have any interest in supporting them, and they really shouldn't.

[Misfit]

TL;DR - Valve know the pricing is bad and are "disappointed" the market conditions didn't allow them to do better. But, hey, let's get SteamOS broadly compatible with more hardware and you could install SteamOS on your own home-brew Steam Machine instead. Valve ain't blocking that at all, but are actively encouraging it, if the Steam Machine itself is out of your price range.

The Steam Machine solves the problem of having a tiny, quiet PC in your living room that you can turn on with your controller, it will control your TV and should pretty much never need a keyboard/mouse.

This is VERY much why I want it.

You could buy/build a better PC for the money but it won't come anywhere close to the above features, and if anyone else produces their own Machine with a better spec it's going to cost even more.

***Look at the person trying to justify spending too much...***

[Misfit]

Well that made it easier, as I didn't get one of the initial batch.

Because I went for two models, and didn't get either, I'm in the queue for the one I was closet to the front of (512GB + Controller).

They said some people may decide not to buy/their buy period may expire so some in the queue may still get in on this batch.

No mention of when the next batch will be.

[MattyP]

Well that made it easier, as I didn't get one of the initial batch.

Because I went for two models, and didn't get either, I'm in the queue for the one I was closet to the front of (512GB + Controller).

They said some people may decide not to buy/their buy period may expire so some in the queue may still get in on this batch.

No mention of when the next batch will be.

Same for me... got an email from Valve to say I'm on the wait list (512GB version with controller).

When and if I get one the PS5 is going to part fund it. Recently got rid of the Series X too for this reason.

Most importantly we are still in the list!

[Misfit]

Same for me... got an email from Valve to say I'm on the wait list (512GB version with controller).

When and if I get one the PS5 is going to part fund it. Recently got rid of the Series X too for this reason.

Most importantly we are still in the list!

Not sure my PS5 has been turned on in two years. Probably worth holding on to the way prices are going up!

My son may want to take the Series X to uni (assuming he gets in) come October. But I'll discourage at the start to see what he really needs there.